First Impressions
by atyinso
Summary: Cold, regal, and utterly boring. At least, until she broke the ice.
1. Distance

Katarina was never one for talking.

Actions spoke louder than words, although words barely got through to her anyway. She was too busy to bother herself with the needless prattle of politics. War solved disputes, violence solved everything.

But unfortunately, High Command did not see things her way.

She was not pleased in the least bit.

"Thank you for having us. We appreciate the invitation, don't we Katarina?"

A pause.

She felt an elbow prod her on the side of her abdomen, a blow that used more force than what was necessary.

Yes, she was not happy about this turn of events.

Another sharp prod, only this time it was harder.

Her eye twitched. Her good one.

Yes, she was definitely not happy about being here.

Not. At. _All_.

She glared at her serpentine sister, who stared right back. Cassiopeia's pupils narrowed into thin slits, and Katarina swore she was literally piercing into her soul with that gaze. It was unnerving, but not enough to intimidate Katarina.

That didn't mean shit though. She had no say in this, and she was going to have to go through with it, no matter how agonizing it would be.

Katarina clenched her jaw. Hard. "Yes, it's a pleasure to be here," she said with a forced grin.

Cassiopeia gave her a smug smile, satisfied that her unruly sister had complied and correctly said the line they'd rehearsed about twenty times on the way here.

God, she wanted to punch her in her goddamn face.

Their hosts either did not notice or paid no mind to Katarina's unusual behavior. "It's an honor to have the Sinister Blade of Noxus and her esteemed sister visit us in here in the Freljord."

Cassiopeia laughed, a rehearsed laugh, a laugh she used as a social charm. "No, the honor is ours, Queen Ashe."

"Please, just call me Ashe," the archer said with a polite, controlled smile.

It pissed Katarina off.

" _Sister_ ," she spat through gritted teeth. "Can I be dismissed?"

Cassiopeia studied her with disapproval. "Come again?"

Katarina shot her a dirty look. " _May_ I be dismissed?"

Her younger sister crossed her arms. "My, such manners you have."

" _May I_ _ **please**_ _be dismissed?_ " she growled, her chest burning with frustration.

Cassiopeia put a hand to her chest. "Why, of course you may, dear sister. Now go." She made a shooing motion with her other hand. "Begone."

Katarina swallowed the lump of fury in her throat and sharply turned on her heels, nearly running away from the conversation.

She absolutely hated being sent on missions as a diplomat. That was Cassiopeia's field of expertise. Her charismatic sister would have been fine without her accompaniment, even though she was a monster now, but that didn't matter. High Command ordered her to help Cassiopeia create more friendly relations with the other nations. The Freljord was just the first stop of many they would make.

She was already miserable.

First of all, it was fucking cold. Why anyone would willingly choose to live in the middle of nowhere surrounded by nothing but ice and snow was completely beyond her.

In Noxus, it was hot. Not as hot as Shurima, but it was hot. And Katarina loved it.

But here? No. Here, her nipples were icicles.

They were fucking _icicles_.

They would probably just fall off if she took her clothes and bra off. It was ridiculous how cold it was. She didn't even know this level of coldness existed, let alone how people could live in it all their life.

God, she missed Noxus already. Well, she missed the heat in Noxus right now, but she also missed Noxus of course.

The only thing keeping her somewhat warm right now was her feelings of anger. The three thick layers of clothing she currently had on did nothing to shield her from the weather. It anything, they just served as a reminder about how cold it was, due to them feeling absolutely useless.

"Hey, I didn't expect to run into you here."

She turned, surprise written all over her face.

"Garen? What are you doing here?"

"I was sent as an envoy for Demacia. I take it that you're also one for Noxus?" he inquired.

"Yeah," she sighed. "I don't understand why they would even send me here when they have my sister."

Garen chuckled. "I agree. You and I are both terrible at politics. We're probably just here to show off as our nation's best."

Katarina smiled.

Perhaps being an ambassador wouldn't be that bad after all.

* * *

"Wow? Really?" Katarina raised her good eyebrow. The only one she could still move.

"Yeah, didn't he tell you?" Garen looked at her inquisitively.

"No, he didn't. I'm going to punch him in the fucking face for not telling me, actually."

Garen laughed, and the sound made Katarina feel warm. Conversing with him made her forget about the cold, about everything.

Her heart suddenly stung with sadness, longing.

Regret.

Garen didn't notice. Of course he wouldn't notice. Katarina always maintained a neutral facade in public, although it could be better described as a perpetually angry expression.

But her true emotions showed in her eyes, and he knew how to read her like a book.

"Hey," he said softly. "I don't think Talon's the type of person to talk about his love life. You know him, he's pretty secretive about everything."

She let herself frown a little. Just a little. "Yeah, but I'm his sister. I mean, we're not biologically related, but we're still family."

She heard a woman scoff behind her. "Not really, Katarina."

The assassin didn't even turn her head in acknowledgement. "I wasn't talking to you, Cass. What do you want?"

Cassiopeia folded her arms, a cross look on her face. "It's nearly midnight. You two have been ot here for hours talking. I think it's time for you two to go to bed."

Katarina frowned. She didn't even realize how dark it had gotten.

Garen scratched the back of his head bashfully. "Just give us another moment. Please."

The mage huffed. "Fine. Don't take too long. I'll wait for inside." She shivered. The chill must feel worse to her because she's literally cold-blooded.

Katarina wasn't one for sympathy though.

As she watched her sister leave, she felt a large hand gently place itself on her shoulder, a hot breath on her ear as Garen moved towards her.

"Kat…"

"You know we shouldn't," she said. "We agreed, remember?"

Garen sighed. "I know, but I just want you to know that I still love you, and no one can stop me from feeling this way."

Katarina stiffened. She bit her lip to stop it from quivering. Her eyes began to tear up.

"I wish it didn't have to be this way," she whispered. She was afraid she's break down if she spoke any louder.

"Me too, Kitty Kat. Me too."

He enveloped her in his arms and she leaned into his embrace.

She wished she could stay like that forever.

She knew they couldn't.

The two turned their heads in unison as they heard a door open. "Katarina," her sister warned, "You promised."

She felt anger at her sister for interrupting them, but she knew she was right.

She reluctantly pushed Garen away lightly. "I should go."

Garen coughed awkwardly, his face flushed as he deliberately looked anywhere but at the two Noxians. "I should get going as well. I'll… I'll see you later, alright?"

Katarina nodded, watching as the Demacian rushed inside the castle.

"Kat."

She didn't dare look up at her sister.

"I'm sorry," Cassiopeia said with a soft tone, one that she rarely heard, the one that she used when she wanted to show that she really cared about her sister.

Katarina hadn't heard it in ages.

"I'm not trying to insensitive, I'm really not, but you really should find someone else."

The assassin sighed forlornly, blinking back tears. "I know."


	2. Unknown

"Kat."

She didn't respond.

"Kat."

No answer. A wordless vocable of frustration.

"Wake up, sunshine."

She suddenly felt herself being shoved off the bed, falling ungracefully on the floor with a loud thud.

…

Oh, that was it. Katarina was fucking livid.

"CASS, I FUCKING SWEAR IF YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN I WILL F—"

"Oh, shut it." Her sister examined her perfectly manicured nails. Almost perfectly, apparently. She squinted a little harder. Was that a chip she saw?

She frowned mentally. Not physically of course, she didn't want to get wrinkles. She'd just have to fix it later, when there were no time constraints. "It's morning. We need to attend the breakfast."

Katarina forgot her anger. Sort of. It just placed itself in the back of her mind, repressed with all the other things she had to control, like violence.

"Do they have bacon?"

Cassiopeia sighed, exasperated with her sibling. "Yes, they have bacon."

Katarina instantly got up and rushed to the restroom, getting ready in record time.

After all, it was common knowledge that the Freljord had the best bacon on Runeterra.

"Hold it."

Kat looked at her sister, annoyed. "What? What is it?"

Cassiopeia hesitated, long enough for Kat to question why. Before she could bring it up however, the mage shoved a potion into her hands.

"Here," she said. "Drink this."

Katarina looked at the concoction in her hand with distrust. "… What the fuck is this and why is it green?"

Another suspicious pause. "Swain instructed me to have you drink this. It… I don't know what it is." Well, she sounded unsure, so Kat wasn't going to question it, deciding to assume that her sister was telling the truth. She'd probably regret her decision later.

"It might help you retain body heat," she offered a little more confidently. "Swain gave me some special potions so I wouldn't freeze to death."

A less suspicious pause followed shortly afterwards. "Also, your breath stinks. Maybe—hopefully—this will help with that as well."

Katarina glared at her before downing it like a shot, managing to block out the rancid taste, and hurried out the room.

Cass rolled her eyes, following the assassin after she ran out into the hallway. The rapid footsteps were already getting fainter. At least they wouldn't be running late, but then Cassiopeia couldn't be fashionably late. Honestly, to think that Kat would choose food over style…

How were they even related?

* * *

"Try to get a seat next to the queen."

Katarina scoffed. "I still don't understand why I'm the one that has to get close to Ashe. You're the diplomat here."

"Exactly."

Katarina scowled and looked at her sister. "What the fuck does that even mean?"

Cassiopeia sighed, once again. "Language, Kat," she scolded. "This is exactly why you were chosen for this. You're not exactly the diplomatic type. At all. They won't suspect you."

"That's so stupid," she complained uselessly.

Cassiopeia sniffed sharply, annoyed with her sister. Kat may have been older, but she wasn't nearly as mature. "Well that's how it is, and you'll just have to deal with it."

A few minutes later, they arrived at a grandiose door, but it was certainly not the fanciest one they've seen in the castle. Behind it, they could hear subdued chatter and smell the fresh food the chefs had prepared.

"Best behavior, Kat," she reminded for what felt like the millionth time.

Katarina grunted in response, not really paying attention.

Cassiopeia gave her a sharp look of disapproval before opening the door.

The two entered the hall, where there was already the majority of the ambassadors and politicians seated at a long table.

There was one open seat next to Ashe.

Katarina reluctantly made her way over there after Cassiopeia pushed her not so subtly.

"Good morning, Katarina," Ashe greeted in an even tone. "How are you enjoying your stay so far?"

Katarina felt the hairs on the back of her neck and she clenched her jaw. Ashe's politeness, her calculated movements and words, everything about her pissed off the assassin. It was like she wasn't even human, like she was a robot. It was unnerving, to say the least.

"It's… okay," she answered, managing to reply without sounding too agitated.

"Only okay?" the archer inquired politely, not very concerned. "Is there something wrong?"

Katarina mumbled something incoherently under her breath. Only a few swears were said.

A sharp cough made her look up. She knew exactly what that meant. She was far too familiar with the sound.

She didn't even need to look over to know that Cassiopeia was glowering at her across the table.

Katarina frowned. "I mean, it's not bad. It's too fucking cold though."

Ashe's mouth opened slightly in understanding. "Ah, so that's the problem. I suspected as much. That's what people always complain about when they visit. I can lend you one of my cowls if that would help."

Katarina snorted. "I doubt it. I had on three layers yesterday and it didn't do shit."

She saw Ashe smile for a split second before she forced her face into a neutral expression. If Kat wasn't constantly alert, she would have missed it for sure.

Weird. Suddenly she felt uncomfortable, bothered. Something was off about Ashe.

"I have some magic imbued into them to ward off the cold, so I'm sure they'll help. Trust me."

"Huh?" Katarina had forgotten about their conversation for a moment. She shrugged carelessly. "It's worth a shot, I guess."

Ashe smiled at her before waving over one of her servants and ordering them to retrieve outwear for all of the guests present. Before she could turn back to Katarina and continue their small talk, another servant came up to her, quickly blabbering about something Katarina couldn't give two shits about.

Since the queen was currently preoccupied and she had nothing else to do, Katarina took a look around the dining room, hoping to find Garen or someone else she didn't want to stab on sight.

Unfortunately, the first thing she saw was Cassiopeia, who was staring intently at the table. Kat immediately looked down and her suspicions were confirmed.

Of course the icy table was reflective and unusually clear. Of course Cass would use it as a mirror in order to admire herself.

The assassin wasn't exactly modest herself, but she wasn't nearly as much of a narcissist as her sister.

She swore she was going to throw up if she continued to watch her sister mentally fuck her own reflection.

Kat quickly averted her eyes and her gaze landed on a Crownguard, unfortunately not the one she could tolerate.

Lux was… What was she even doing? Was she playing around with the reflective properties of the table and eating utensils? And why was it so bright over th—

A sharp gleam of light attacked her poor eyes.

"FUCKING SHIT."

The room immediately fell silent. The only sound she could hear was Ashe as she continued to talk to her startled servant like nothing happened.

She could feel the stares she was receiving, especially since Cassiopeia was actively trying to turn her to stone.

She wasn't going to take the chance of looking around the room to intimidate everyone staring at her. The first and last time she made eye contact with Cass when she was angry, she was suddenly transported a week in the future with a very annoyed LeBlanc staring at her, feeling extremely sore and stiff.

Eventually, the sound of idle chatter resumed as people lost interest in her.

But she knew Cassiopeia was still giving her the evil eye. Now she couldn't even search for Garen without the risk of accidentally looking at Cass.

She's been turned to stone once already.

Never again.

Grumbling, Kat reached for one of the knives on the table. Cassiopeia was already watching her and majorly pissed off, so it wouldn't do too much harm to misbehave a little more. She wouldn't act out while she was near the queen. Ashe was unusually… chill, for lack of a better word. She seemingly didn't care about Katarina's vulgar outburst, so she probably wouldn't mind if Katarina decided to make a few markings on the unnaturally perfect table.

While she would have preferred one whose primary purpose wasn't to spread butter and cut food, it was the sharpest thing she had at hand so it would do.

Except for the fact that it couldn't cut for shit apparently.

The blade just slide off the table, not even leaving a scratch on the surface. Katarina looked between the table and knife incredulously. Was the damn thing dull?

…

Nope. It was most certainly not dull and was actually very sharp. Katarina put her bleeding finger in her mouth, staring at the table with a newfound curiosity.

"—orry about that. Now where we?"

She looked up to she Ashe staring at her expectantly, calm as ever.

"You're bleeding," she stated, no emotion in her voice. Katarina bit back to urge to snap at her for pointing out the obvious. "How did you injure yourself?"

Ah. Well, this was awkward. "I, uhm," she coughed into a closed fist. "I cut myself."

"Just now?"

Katarina nodded, beginning to feel a little embarrassed.

"And why would you do such a thing?"

Katarina opened her mouth to reply—not that she knew what she was going to say—but was distracted by the smell of meat. Bacon, to be specific.

"I see you're interested in our cuisine?" Ashe asked, and Katarina could almost detect the smallest trace of amusement in her voice.

Katarina didn't answer, too busy staring at the food that was being served.

She laughed evilly, taking the entire plate of bacon that was just placed on the table. "Come to momma."

"Katarina!" Cassiopeia hissed in a tone toxic enough to kill a man.

She ignored her, too hungry to care about the risk of being strangled by her naga sister later.

"You must have quite the voracious appetite," Ashe commented. There was something in her voice the assassin couldn't quite recognize. "Are you sure you can finish all that?"

Katarina scowled at the queen for even suggesting such a thing. "Of course. That's a stupid question," she spat, forgetting about the mission and the fact that she was addressing royalty.

Ashe raised an eyebrow, her expression unreadable. A few seconds later, in an uncharacteristic display of emotion, she smirked mischievously. "I bet you five hundred gold you can't."

Katarina would be lying if she said she wasn't surprised. It wasn't necessarily a bad one though. If anything, it was good. Maybe Ashe wasn't as boring as she first appeared to be. "Ha! That's easy money. You're so on." A pause. "I didn't think the queen of the Freljord gambled," she admitted.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me," Ashe muttered so softly, Katarina could barely make out the words.

Well, that would confirm Katarina's suspicions if the queen was indeed correct. For some reason, Kat couldn't help but feel bothered by the statement. The way Ashe whispered it so sadly…

Something in her gut twisted and she remained silent, not quite sure what to say. She had a sinking feeling she wasn't supposed to hear her. Some kind of negative emotion began to fill her chest, and pushed it away in response. She didn't have time for that shit. All this meant was that the mission wouldn't be as boring as she thought it'd be.

Instead of thinking some more, she settled for messily consuming bacon. To any onlookers, it probably looked like she was inhaling the food.

Cassiopeia's eye twitched. Kat knew because she felt her glaring at the assassin ever since she grabbed the bacon.

Totally worth all the weird tingling she was beginning to feel everywhere. This bacon was the best thing she's ever tasted.

She heard Ashe thank someone right before she felt the queen poke her arm gently with a slender finger. She paused with another piece of bacon halfway to her mouth, looking at Ashe quizzatively. The archer held up a neatly folded cowl, offering it to the assassin.

Kat finished chewing and swallowed, somewhat reluctantly setting down the piece of bacon she was about to eat. She took the cowl and quickly put it on. Suddenly she didn't feel cold anymore.

"Better?"

Katarina looked up at Ashe, her mouth still full of half chewed food. For some odd reason, she was beginning to get extremely lightheaded. Her vision was blurring and her mind felt foggy, unclear. It was hard to think, her ears unresponsive and buzzing.

Still, she managed to nod with difficulty, but this only caused her to feel even more disorientated. She felt herself quickly slipping into unconsciousness.

"Kat…na?"

She felt herself fall into Ashe's arms as the world faded to black.


End file.
